It has been a whirlwind year for the 21-year-old, who is currently on her first professional skating tour. (She will skate in the "Stars on Ice" show Friday at the Rosemont Horizon. She also will perform at Ice Rink 37 on State Street across from Marshall Field's at noon with Silver medalist Paul Wylie; free to the public.)

After winning a gold medal at the Olympics in Albertville (and becoming the first American woman in 16 years to do so), Yamaguchi defended her first-place title at the World Figure Skating Championships in Oakland.

Then, following the lead of dozens of Olympic athletes before her, she picked up some endorsement contracts. She is now the official spokeswoman for at least two product lines-Hoechst-Celanese Textile Fibers' acetate line and DuraSoft contact lenses.

"Albertville was beyond my dreams of what I ever expected to accomplish in skating," said Yamaguchi. "I had such a positive experience, it was the icing on the cake to come away with the gold medal. There are so many opportunities available to me now, I want to enjoy them."

These days, Yamaguchi has been trying to decide whether to train for the Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, in 1994. A new rule has made it possible for professional skaters to be reinstated as amateurs (one time only) to skate in the Olympics. Yamaguchi has until April to decide.

But there are reasons for not making the trek to Norway.

"It would be very hard to top everything that happened in Albertville," she said. "The training is very serious. Back then, I didn't feel so much pressure, even though I knew it was there. Doing it again would be different. It would be impossible not to feel the pressure."

Yamaguchi's home is Fremont, Calif., in the east San Francisco Bay Area, but she lives in Edmonton, Alberta, to train with her coach of 12 years, Christy Kjarsgaard-Ness. When she's not skating, "I try to be a normal 21-year-old," she said. "I hang out with my friends and listen to music."

For "Stars On Ice" ticket information, call TicketMaster or the Rosemont Horizon.